Chapter 2: Unwelcome Change

It was nightfall by now, and we were in the middle of a forest with no camp, no food and no shelter. Joy.

"I told you! It's getting dark already." Lissa said, exasperated. "...Ugh! And now the bugs are out! Noisy, disgusting bugs that buzz around and crawl all over and bite you when- Agh! Won goph in mah mouph! Blech! Ptooey!" At least I think that's what she said, it was pretty hard to understand. Though I have to agree.

"Aw, come on Lissa, hardship builds character." Chrom smiled, "Want to help me gather firewood?" Lissa clearly ignored him and went off on a rant of her own.

"Tpht! Bleugh! Yeeeeuuuuckk! ...I think I swallowed it…" Lissa put on a disgusted face, "I'll pass on finding firewood, thanks. I think I've built quite enough character for one day!" Can't say I disagree with her. Wait, I'm getting hungry.

"We should probably think about food, you know," I chipped in, "I don't know about you, but I'm absolutely starving right now." A bit of exaggeration but oh well it'll get me food faster.

"Yes, I should think a little hunting and gathering is in order." Frederick said in his usual monotone voice of his, "Now who wants to clear a campsite?"

"Mm…. It's been too long since I last had bear meat. Delicious!" Chrom said in between bites, but then shot a concerned look at Lissa when he noticed she wasn't eating, "What's wrong Lissa? Dig in."

"I pass! ...Gods, couldn't you spear us an animal normal people eat, for once?" Lissa complained, "I mean come on! Who eats BEAR? You're meddling with the food chain! Right, Robin?" I didn't notice her. I can't blame myself, this bear meat is goddamn gorgeous.

"Uh, Robin?" she asked when she didn't hear a reply. I still didn't hear. But Lissa, this bear meat is pretty amazing.

Lissa sighed, "I suppose a person would enjoy eating just about anything after not eating for days…" I'm pretty sure if I would've not eaten in days I'd be starving from the start.

"Just eat it, Lissa," Chrom smiled at her after finishing his mouthful, "Meat is meat." Someone give Chrom the reward for highest IQ of the century, I would have never guessed that meat is meat without him pointing it out.

"Since when does meat smell like old boots!" Lissa shouted in protest, "Wait, I take that back- boots smell better!" I don't remember how I was hearing this but not Lissa trying to get me to talk, but ehh.

"Every experience makes us stronger, milady. Even those we don't enjoy." Frederick lectured. ...Wait, Frederick isn't eating either. Hypocrite.

"Really, Frederick?" Lissa said in a tone that seemed to suggest she'd been thinking the same thing as me, "Then why don't I see you eating?" Frederick looked slightly offended for a second at Lissa pointing that out.

"Me? Oh, well… I'm not hungry." he tried to make up a story. Bullshit. "I… had a large lunch! Yes, quite."

"Yeah, right!"

I was lying on the ground, just about to go to sleep, when Chrom suddenly sat up out of the blue and started saying stuff. Asshole.

"Huh?" I pretended to stay asleep to hear him talking to himself. I don't think I'm a least I hope I'm not. I then heard Lissa wake up and yawn.

"What's up, Chrom?" If I had my eyes open I'd see her look incredibly pissed off. I bet on it. Five of whatever the currency here is.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you, but… something is amiss." Nice Chrom, I didn't know you were a psychic.

"Define 'something'." Lissa replied in an annoyed voice. I don't know who I was betting with, but they owe me that five now.

"I'm not sure…" Chrom said, "I think I'll have a look around."

"Not alone, you won't!" Lissa protested. Ehh I guess she would be useful. "I'm coming too!"

"Thanks, Lissa." Chrom put on a slight laugh. And then I heard them start to walk away, to where I think was further into the forest. They then stopped and started talking again, and I could barely hear what they were saying.

"It sure is dark… and quiet. Where did the birds go?" Lissa asked.

"Something is wrong here…" Chrom then said. Then I started to feel the earth shake. Holy shit I was never told this place had earthquakes.

"Aah!" Lissa screamed, "Chrom!"

"Gods, what-" Chrom started to say, "Agh! What is this madness? Lissa, stay close!" I then stood up and started running where they were going, seeing fire in the distance, before I realised something. Shit, what about Frederick.

"Frederick!" I quickly ran over to him and started shaking him, "Frederick!" He turned over and woke up immediately, noticing the disappearance of Chrom and Lissa before me, which I'm pretty sure was impossible.

"Milady, milord-" he started shouting, panicked, "Where are they?"

"They ran off, Chrom felt there was something strange," I explained, "I started running over and saw a forest fire in the distance. Now we need to run!"

"I understand." Thank god.

We started rushing over, and luckily they were nearby. I had to run as fast as I could to keep up with Frederick's horse, but we made it before I got completely tired out. I doubt I was ever much of a runner, considering this stamina. Or maybe I'm out of shape. Who knows?

"Milord! Milady!" Frederick addressed them as soon as we arrived, "Are you hurt?" I started looking around and noticed bandits - except they weren't really bandits. They looked more like zombies. Zombie apocalypse? Sign me up.

"Frederick!" Lissa greeted us, "Robin!" I guess now's the time to ask if zombies like this are always here.

"Are such… horrific creatures common here?" I inquired.

"They're not from Ylisse." Chrom responded. Thank god. "I'll promise you that."

"No one is injured then?" Frederick said after he finished inspecting Chrom and Lissa while they ignored him, "Thank the gods…"

"Thank the masked man who saved me!" Lissa smiled, "If it wasn't for him, I'd be…" I don't recall any masked man anyway. "Hey, where did he go?"

"We can worry about him later," Frederick pulled out his lance, "AFTER we put these...things…to the blade. Eyes open, now. We know nothing about this enemy."

"Right." Chrom muttered under his breath before pulling out his sword and sigalling battle. I started quickly inspecting the battlefield, and noticed some weird stuff.

"Hmm? Are those…" I started to ask.

"Abandoned forts, yes." Frederick cut in. I started thinking of a way they could be useful, before coming up with an answer.

"We should take shelter in them whenever possible." I started to strategise, "No doubt they will offer distinct advantages in battle."

"Lissa, stay out of the enemy range!" I commanded, "Chrom, pair up with me and let's go to that fort I'm facing. Frederick, stay with Lissa for now!" Chrom and me then rushed to the fort, with me in front, holding my sword. I then attacked the zombie right next to the fort, Chrom guarding me when it tried to attack. As soon as the enemies started rushing towards us, two people, a female horse-rider and a male, blue haired archer. They seemed to be having a conversation, which from what I could hear, involved a lot of groin-kicking and flirting. I saw them equipped (with a lance and a bow respectively), and had a feeling I should start commanding them as well. Before commanding anyone, I shot a bolt of lightning at a zombie heading towards Lissa and Frederick, with Chrom rushing in to kill it.

"Now Virion, get behind Sully! Sully, head as far down as you can! Lissa, stay just outside of the enemy view!" I started commanding again. Then the enemies started heading towards us, and me and Chrom killed two axe-weilding zombies, then injuring another sword-weilding one. From what I could tell, the leader of the zombies (if they had one) was near us.

"Now Sully, finish off that Mercenary while me and Chrom attack this archer." Me and Chrom then headed towards that archer and killed it, while Sully killed the final non-boss zombie. Lissa then headed right behind me and healed my wounds from a zombie that attacked me earlier. Then the boss threw a Hand Axe at me, it barely grazing my shoulder, which Lissa quickly healed.

"Virion, attack their boss, and Chrom, finish it off!" Virion then moved onto the fort and attacked their boss, while Chrom quickly ran up to it, attacking it but not finishing it off. Crap. The boss quickly then ran towards Lissa, before Chrom blocked its path and finished it off. I looked around again, and there were no more zombies. Good. Then what I assumed to be the masked man Lissa was talking about headed towards us.

"It seems all the creatures are vanquished." Frederick said in his usual monotone voice, "This young man took care of the others." I looked at the masked man: his hair colour was identical to Chrom's, and he wore an outfit similar to Chrom as well, with his cape blowing in the non-existent wind and the same general style.

"Um, I never got to thank you...for before." Lissa faced the masked man with a strangely neutral look on her ace, "So...thank you. You were very brave."

"You saved my sister's life." Chrom smiled, "My name is Chrom. Might I ask yours?"

"You may call me Marth." he replied in a voice that sounded strangely… girly for someone like him. And I'm pretty sure Marth isn't even a name,

"Marth? After the heroic king of old?" Chrom asked, Apparently I was wrong. "You certainly fight like a hero. Where did you learn your way with a sword?"

"I'm not here to talk about me." Marth said, "This world teeters at the brink of a horrible calamity." Holy shit. "What you saw tonight was but a prelude. You have been warned." He finished his sentence off in a tone that sort of suggested he caused the calamity.

"Huh? What's teetering where now?" Lissa feigned angriness as Marth walked away, "Hey, wait!" Well Marth's a pretty quiet guy.

"Not much for conversation, is he?" I rhetorically asked.

"It appears his skills like elsewhere." Frederick said. No shit. "I wager we'll hear his name again… But for now, I'm more concerned about the capital. We should make haste."

Wow this place is crowded. It was now tomorrow and we were in Ylisstol, the capital of Ylisse.

"So this is Ylisstol, the capital of Ylisse…" I said to no-one in particular, "I've never seen so many people!" Well of course, my memories only go back to yesterday onwards.

"It appears the capital was spared the chaos we encountered, thank the gods." Frederick quickly inspected the town. "I see no evidence of the great quake. It must have been limited to the forest."

"Well, that's a relief!" Lissa smiled.

"Look!" an old-looking villager shouted, "The exalt has come to see us!" I looked over to where he was looking to see a tall blonde-haired woman, wearing a cloak, with a strange mark on her forehead.

"The exalt is your ruler, yes?" I turned to Chrom, Lissa and Frederick.

"Yes." Frederick responded. "Her name is Lady Emmeryn."

"Is it safe for her to walk among the commoners like this?" I asked. Surely it's not.

"The exalt is a symbol of peace- Ylisse's most prized quality." Frederick said in reply, "Long ago, at the dawn of our age, the fell dragon tried to destroy the world. But the first exalt joined forces with the divine dragon and laid the beast low. Exalt Emmeryn reminds us all of the peace we fought for then." Frederick's history lessons: 101.

Chrom continued the mini-history lesson. "With Plegia poking at our borders, the people need her. She's a calming presence, when some might otherwise call for war." Nice.

"Then the Ylissean people are indeed lucky to have her." I murmured to no-one in particular.

"She's also the best big sister anyone could ask for!" Lissa cut in with her usual cheery demeanor. Wait wait wait what? Rewind for a second there. If you're her sister, then you and Chrom are…

"Yes, I imagined she…" I voiced my thoughts aloud, "Wait, what? She's your… But wouldn't that make you and Chrom…"

"The prince and princess of the realm, yes. You remember Chrom's name and not this." Stop the presses guys, Frederick just smiled!

"You said, you…" I tried to make sense of all this, "You said you were shepherds!" Liars.

"And so we are… in a manner of speaking." Chrom looked at me like this was some sort of elaborate joke, "We just have a LOT of sheep." HOLY SHIT MY MANNERS.

"C-Chrom… I mean Prince Chrom!" I said, "Sire! Forgive my dreadful manners!" I could be executed for this!

"Just Chrom is fine." he responded. Thank god. "I've never been much for formalities."

"The prince and princess…" I mumbled under my breath before raising my voice, "That explains why Frederick tolerates all the teasing, yes?"

"Indeed." Frederick replied, "Oh, the sacrifices I make for the good of the realm…"

"It looks like Emm is returning to the palace." Chrom changed the subject, "Would you like to meet her?" I dunno I might screw up.

As soon as we arrived in the palace, I noticed Emmeryn had a bodyguard of sorts, but Chrom and Lissa paid no attention to her so I focused on Emmeryn.

"Chrom! Lissa! Welcome home." Emmeryn greeted us as we walked in, "Oh, and good day, Frederick. How fared you all?"

"Well-we shouldn't have any bandit problems for a while." Chrom cut the story short.

"Wonderful. And our people?" Emmeryn asked.

"Safe as they can be, Emm." I guess I can call her that then in this internal monologue. "But we still need to watch the borders. The brigands crossed over from Plegia."

"Forgive me, milord." the bodyguard I mentioned earlier stepped forward, "My pegasus knights should have intercepted them."

"No, Phila." Chrom replied, "Your duty was here, with the exalt." So Miss Bodyguard has a name, nice.

"And besides, we had plenty of help!" Lissa exclaimed, motioning to me.

"Ah, you speak of your new companion here?" Shit shit shit royalty I don't know is looking at me. Act smart act smart act smart.

"This is Robin," Chrom spared me the pain of having to introduce myself, "He fought bravely with us against the brigands. I've decided to make him a Shepherd." Sweet.

"It sounds as though Ylisse owes you a debt of gratitude, Robin." Emmeryn smiled at me. Phew.

"Not at all, milady!" I quickly straightened my robes.

"Forgive me, Your Grace, but I must speak," Frederick interrupted us, "Robin claims to have lost his memory, but it is only that: a claim. We cannot rule out the possibility that he is a brigand himself, or even a Plegian spy." Dammit Frederick.

"Frederick!" Chrom half-shouted.

"Yet you allowed him into the castle, Chrom." Emmeryn said, "Does this man have your trust?"

"Yes. He risked his life for our people." Chrom responded, "That's good enough for me."

"Well then, Robin," Emmeryn smiled, "It seems you've earned Chrom's faith, and as such you have mine as well. But thank you, Frederick, for your prudence, as always. Chrom and Lissa are blessed to have so tireless a guardian. I do hope they remember to mention that from time to time…"

"They occasionally express something akin to gratitude, Your Grace." Frederick replied in his monotone voice, "Phila, I assume you've heard about the deathly creatures we encountered, yes?"

"Yes, milord." Phila said, "They've been sighted all across Ylisse."

"Chrom, we are about to hold council." Emmeryn changed the subject, "I was hoping you could join us."

"Of course." he responded.

"I think that's our cue, Robin!" Lissa turned to me. Apparently she's not attending council, "C'mon, there's a place I want to show you."

A/N: Ugh dialogue overload. .-. Next chapter will stop following the strict ingame Chapter = story Chapter since supports are going to play a decently large part in this. Also sorry for the lack of line breaks between timeskips, for some reason I couldn't find a way to actually have linebreaks, so it might come off as a bit confusing. =/

Thanks to Gunlord500 for reviewing!